WSU makes apparently meaningless show of response to complaints

WSU makes apparently meaningless show of response to complaints

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WSU makes apparently meaningless show of response to complaints.

PULLMAN, Washington––Washington State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee chief Phyllis Erdman on July 22, 2016 made a show of responding promptly to alleged federal Animal Welfare Act violations resulting in the accidental deaths of grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, calves and rabbits in university laboratories.

A closer look at what really happened, though, suggests that nothing much has changed at WSU, and nothing much will unless someone, somehow, brings more pressure to bear on WSU to be responsive, accountable, and above all else, more careful in how animals are used and looked after.

Five to seven years?

“Washington State University announced it would begin external reviews of all WSU labs following three complaints by animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now and an internal investigation by the university into its own Bear Research Education & Conservation Center,” wrote Moscow, Idaho/Pullman, Washington Daily News reporter Josh Babcock, after Erdman’s teleconference addressing the SAEN charges.

“Erdman said during the next five to seven years all of the university’s labs would be inspected to ensure WSU is providing the resources the labs need to operate legally and remain compliant with federal regulations,” Babcock elaborated––and affirmed to ANIMALS 24-7 that according to his taped record of the teleconference, his paraphrasing was accurate.